By his early teens, he was playing in a punk/hardcore band called Burn while attending the prestigious High School of Performing Arts. After a little over a year there, he quit school to go on tour, ending his formal education. From the ages of 17 to 23, he was addicted to heroin, which dominated his life although he also played in bands, notably handling bass guitar for the noise-rock group Die 116. At 23, he went into rehab and kicked his habit. He began handling live sound for the club Brownies in New York and resumed his career as a musician, eventually joining the band Rival Schools, which toured internationally and released an album, United by Fate, on Island Records in 2001. In between tours, he formed Cardia, which became his main focus and with which he recorded a self-titled album released on Silverthree Records in 2003. He also began working as an engineer for other recording artists. Eventually, he began writing songs that didn't fit into any of his band projects, which hatched the idea for a solo album. Playing most of the instruments himself, he recorded Ian Love, released by the Philadelphia-based independent label Limekiln Records in February 2006. ~ William Ruhlmann